Sunday, April 30, 2017

The
acclaimed Tatsu Japanese Cuisine at Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur has
launched a new menu filled with an eclectic mix of classic and modern Japanese
cuisine. No stranger to our Japanese culinary scene, Tatsu has always been a favorite hotspot for many avid Japanese
food lovers.

Tatsu, derived from Tatsu-jin, means master or expert. The elegant and stylish
restaurant offers a gorgeous modern interior that incorporates Japanese
aesthetics with contemporary yet minimalist design.

Dark
timber woods with splashes of sea cobalt blue and white creates a harmonious
and Zen dining ambiance. Soft lighting creates further calming illusions to let
diners dine at ease and end the evening with sumptuous Japanese dishes and
sakes.

The
whole restaurant is cleverly designed with several dining areas to offer diners
privacy. Opt for the bar area for casual and cozy lounge with glass walls to
offer diners a breathtaking view of the beautifully landscaped garden and
cascading water. There’s also a teppanyaki room, main public dining area and
quite a few private dining rooms as options.

Catch some live sushi actions at the glorious sushi bar that displays the freshest seafood flown in twice a week from Japan to be served with hand-grated fresh wasabi.

There
is a whole glass room showcasing Tatsu’s
amazing list of sakes, shochu and other liqueurs never cease to impress me.
Glowing beautifully, shelves of bottles of sakes, whisky and more will
certainly tempt you into having some with your meal.

Dining
in one of the private rooms that evening, Chef Tommy Kuan serves up signatures
of Tatsu’s new menu. Sashimi takes on a new style here at Tatsu with New Style Sashimi with Yuzu Soy and Heated
Sesame Oil (RM48). Slices of kampachi sashimi is served with chef’s yuzu
soy sauce and finished with hot sesame oil drizzle, elevating luscious salty,
citrusy and umami flavours to the fish.

The
Shrimp-Stuffed Shiitake with Butter
Ponzu (RM38) is perfect with beer, sake or even wine. Bouncy and sweet
shrimp paste goes so well with the earthy Shitake mushrooms. One can’t help but
to get addicted to these delectable morsels that is made even better with a
buttery ponzu sauce. Hand me a beer please…

It
may sound French but the dish of Crispy
Duck Confit on Sprouts and Japanese Spinach with Sesame Vinaigrette (RM47)
takes on classic Japanese flavours. Using confit technique, Chef Kuan renders
the duck to much tenderness before shredding it and frying it karaage style to crispiness. The crispy
duck goes very well with the nutty spinach and beansprout.

One
don’t need a lot of ingredients all the time to create a scrumptious dish. The Rock Shrimp Tempura with Creamy Chilli
Garlic Sauce (RM98) showed minimalist ingredients and yet, it was a solid
A+ dish. Though its not rock shrimp as per its name, the prawns were large,
juicy and bouncy. Glazed in creamy and spicy garlicy chili sauce, these
crustaceans were very tasty and addictive as well.

Classics
like Dobin Mushi (RM35) is always a
crowd pleaser. Served in a dobin mushi pot, the clear seafood broth was
soothing and delicious. A gentle squeeze of lime enhances the seafood essence
even more and one can also enjoy the pieces of seafood and chicken in the pot.

The
limelight of the evening was the Australian
Wagyu (200gm, RM420) served on heated Himalayan salt block. A luscious
marbling No.9, the wagyu only needs 30 seconds on the salt block for medium
doneness. Utterly divine, the wagyu was superbly tender. Because of the high
marbling fat content, the wagyu has such amazing buttery and moreish flavours
that is simply irresistible.

Paired
with some Shimeji mushrooms, the wagyu also came with a side ume and miso
sauce. I simply prefer the wagyu as it is as the heated salt already gave the
wagyu its much needed salt flavour. Though a tad salty, probably due to the
fact that because we took a bit too long in taking photos, the wagyu still
tasted amazing.

The
Green Tea Salt Crusted Lamb Chops with
Japanese Sour Plum Sauce (RM64) was the only dish that was too salty for my
liking honestly. A bit of scraping off that special green tea salt and the lamb
was yummy again. We did feedback to Chef Kuan to go on easier with that green
tea salt. Other than the salt, the lamb was cooked beautifully, rendering much
tenderness and juiciness that we really enjoyed.

Slow Cooked Beef Short Ribs with
Garlic Barbecue Sauce
(RM98) is another mouthwatering delight. The meaty beef short ribs is steamed
and then covered in Chef Kuan’s garlic barbeque sauce before being finished on
the teppanyaki. Served with spring onions and golden potato nugget, the ribs
were fork tender and well-flavoured with savory, sweetness, smoky and hints of
garlicky notes. This mammoth beef rib is big enough to share unless you’re a
big carnivore eater!

The
evening ended with a pretty and sinful Chocolate
Tart and Caramelised Yuzu (RM35). Dark, luscious and velvety chocolate
ganache is set beautifully on short crust pastry, crowned with green tea
whipped cream and finished with strawberries, edible gold and white chocolate
feather. A very awesome way to end the evening on a sweet and high note.

Tatsu Japanese Cuisine is a proud recipient of the
Certificate of Excellence award by Tripadvisor
and listed by Malaysia Tatler as one
of Malaysia’s Best Restaurants for
exceptional cuisine and service in 2016. For reservations, call Tatsu at 03
2782 6118 or email the team at tatsu@intercontinental-kl.com.my.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Talk
about luxury in the food and wine world, an exclusive invite to the elite world
of wines, Spanish wines to be exact, was held at Oversea Restaurant a few weeks
back. Thanks to Cheng Yi aka FatBoyBakes, this exclusive Spanish
Wine and Dine dinner was themed Viaje
del Gusto or Taste Tour of Spanish Wines.

Priced
at RM398 per pax, the Spanish Wine and Dine dinner was the epitome of
showcasing gorgeous Spanish wines paired with Chinese cuisine with some Spanish
ingredient such as Iberico and Truffle.

Stepping
into the famous Chinese restaurant that has been serving fine Chinese cuisine
on our shores, we were immediately greeted by sights of bold red splashed
everywhere. Themed in red and black to show the passionate spirits of the
Spanish, diners were immediately ushered to their tables as well as to the area
for Cava and appetizers.

Needless
to say, those delectable iberico pork went flying off the table even before the
cocktail hour ended! Superb…

Our
anticipation was built further with the rows of Spanish wines for the evening!

The
Spanish White Wine Noche Y Dia Cava
Yellow Label was exceptionally wonderful with freshness and crisp notes.
The sparkling wine and bubbly had fresh fruity aromas with a smooth and
pleasant finish. Goes extremely well with all the tapas, especially the cheese
and iberico pork…

We
were also serenaded by live Spanish music and flamenco dances…

*pic credit to Cheng Yi

The
evening took off with famous emcee Chui
Ling, Hong Kong-born Malaysia-based TV and radio personality, who took us
through the delicious journey with wine sommelier Jonathan. The crowd went wild
when Chui Ling proceeded to initiate games of guessing the flavor and diners
walked away with lavish bottles of wines!

Dinner
commence and diners are certainly in for a luxurious treat with four types of
Spanish wines paired with 7-courses of exquisite Chinese cuisine injected with
hints of Spanish ingredients.

First
wine up, Costers Del Priorat Elios 2014,
from region of Priorat in Catalonia, Spain. Solid and bold tannin with a hint
of peppery finish, there’s also rich and dark plum notes that made this red
goes well with heavy flavoured dishes.

The
first plate up was a Black Truffle Combo.
Featuring a trio of appetizers, there was Steamed
Fresh Shrimp Dumpling, Crispy Yam Roll and Stir-Fried Assorted Mixed Veg with Pine Nuts. It was dim sum on a
plate. Morsels of delectable bouncy shrimp dumpling, crispy and creamy yam with
meat filling and lettuce cup filled lots of veggie textures and nuts makes
great starters for the evening.

The
next course was Braised Fish Maw Soup
with Crab Meat, a must-have soup course in any Chinese meal. Chockful of
fresh sweet picked crab meat, fish maw and other seafood goodies, the thick
bisque was comforting and delicious. The bisque went really well with the Elios
red wine, balancing up the bold tannin with much easement.

The
next wine was also a red one, featuring Montalvo
Wilmot Finca Los Cerrillos Tempranillo-Cabernet Roble from Catalunya,
Spain. The red has notes of cherries and ripened red fruits with very subtle
hints of chocolate. It also has softer tannin than the first red and has a dry
finish. I enjoyed this one very much together with the Iberico meat course.

For
the Iberico Loin Combo, we were
treated to a heavenly plate of Braised
Iberico Loin in Chinese Red Bean Paste and Roasted Iberico Loin with Charcoal. Oversea Restaurant has always
been famous for their signature roast meats and Char Siew especially.

The Char
Siew version here uses prime Iberico pork, making it even more delectable and
luscious with its caramelized and crystal fatty bits and layers of tender meat.
The braised Iberico loin was porcine goodness. Each bite of sumptuous layers of
pork was unctuously tasty and moreish. So good that I would have love steamed
rice with it…

The
third wine, Bodegas Maurodos Prima Toro
2014 hails from Toro, Spain. It has full body and solid tannin with notes
of rich dark fruits like cherry. Great wine structure and goes well with the
heavy flavored seafood dishes that was up next.

It’s
hard to resist a plate that showcase Tiger
Prawn Combo. Another thrilling trio showcasing prawns, there is Deep Fried Tiger Prawn with Almond Flakes, Pan
Fried Tiger Prawn with Salted Egg & Oat Flakes and Stir Fried Tiger Prawn in Chinese Chili Gravy. Don’t ask me to
choose a favorite because all three were delicious on their own merits. It was
a well-executed dish with all the prawns cooked just right.

Our
savory course ended with Smoked Sliced
Duck with Chinese La Mien. Not that we need the carb after all that awesome
courses but I guess this dish is for those who must have their crab course for
fillers. Love the smoked duck but the chilled wasabi infused noodles were a tad
too soggy for my liking.

For
desserts, there were Double Boiled Peach
Resin in Coconut Bowl and Cold
Osmathus with Wolfberry Dessert. I adored the lightness and chill osmathus
jelly with wolfberry.

There’s something really lovley about the aroma of
osmanthus that makes me feel so jolly and satisfying. The hot sweet double
boiled peach resin is decent too, soothing our palates after the whole plush
journey of the food and wines.

Indeed
an amazing gastro journey of the evening with an eye opening experience of
Spanish wine pairing so well with Chinese cuisine. Watch out for the next wine
and food pairing soon and I heard it’s going to be an Italian affair…